Evermore - Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show (Album)
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The trio of brothers from New Zealand disappeared off the commercial radar, reappearing with a flashy new image; which is completely different in almost every aspect from their previous persona we grew to love. Evermore’s new concept album Truth Of The World: Welcome To The Show, attempts to tell a dark and sinister story, rather than deliver a collection of engaging tracks.
To enjoy this album, I feel it is important that you understand the story Evermore try to tell; which is like putting together a confusing puzzle. If you do not wish to find out what the story includes, skip to the next paragraph, because there are spoilers ahead. Their twisted tale is based in the future, where the world is controlled by a news program, called Truth Of The World; hosted by a man named Donovan Evans.
The broadcast (hence album) revolves around political propaganda, commercialism and the corruption of news; which ultimately controls societies view about the world. The only individual who resists the takeover is a teenager called Max, who dies when his car crashes into a river. I found this whole concept strange and hard to grasp from an Evermore album; regardless, a handful of songs are quite entertaining. Between The Lines and Everybody’s Doing It incorporate fast piano tunes, catchy bass beats and a strong presence of controlled electric guitar riffs. Jon Hume’s vocals have essentially been untouched during the bands evolution; their songs still involve his recognisable high pitched skills; which holds the music together.
TOTW: Welcome To The Show is quite boring, songs such as Plugged In and “Max Is Stable” are extremely simple, with dragged-out track introductions, including dull musical loops and creepy ballads in the background; until ultimately leading into an average track. The band has defiantly changed their music style; they now have a higher dependence on messy guitar work and heavy electronic dance beats. All their songs include preachy and paranoid lyrics; Hey Boys And Girls and Diamonds In The River revolve around capitalist media control and its corruption over our minds. Along with ghostly instrumental work used during song transitions, gives this album a dark and twisted feel; Evermore seems to have lost their innocence through their pessimistic release.
This album is full of hits and misses; the confusing story line and strange mix of songs is hard to follow, and ultimately is difficult to become involved in. The boys seem to attempt more than they can achieve with TOTW: Welcome To The Show... bring back the old Evermore!
